Happy Birthday, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien!
Even before I played D&D, I was already ensconced in fantasy and science fiction. From a quite young age, two of my literary influences were Isaac Asimov and J.R.R. Tolkien (with whom I share a special day). I can't even begin to express the extent of how these books (and the many other works of fantasy they inspired) influenced my life.
When my friend brought the AD&D Player's Handbook over to my house and explained the premise (like playing Lord of the Rings!), you could not have gained a life long fan of the game any faster.
Gygax often down played the influence of Tolkien on D&D... However, many of us know that Ents and Hobbits had to be "removed" from the game for Intellectual Property reasons.
Tolkien's influence reached into many different places in pop culture. Not just fantasy, but science fiction and horror as well. It's tentacles probed into D&D and, by proxy, video games, and brought the quest trope back into popularity in modern fiction.
So, Happy Birthday, JRRT... and thank you!
Gygax often down played the influence of Tolkien on D&D... However, many of us know that Ents and Hobbits had to be "removed" from the game for Intellectual Property reasons.
Tolkien's influence reached into many different places in pop culture. Not just fantasy, but science fiction and horror as well. It's tentacles probed into D&D and, by proxy, video games, and brought the quest trope back into popularity in modern fiction.
So, Happy Birthday, JRRT... and thank you!
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